


Lost and Found

by Repeatinglitanies



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dark!Five, Don’t copy to another site, F/M, Miscarriage, Shades of Gray Morality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:46:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25842286
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Repeatinglitanies/pseuds/Repeatinglitanies
Summary: Five takes his infant daughter home
Relationships: Number Five | The Boy/Vanya Hargreeves
Comments: 16
Kudos: 194





	Lost and Found

**Author's Note:**

> This will be an AU where Five never time traveled to the apocalypse and Vanya was never rumoured or drugged to keep her unaware of her powers.

When Five first saw the tiny human that spent nine months in the womb, the first word that materialised in his head was _miracle_. The baby girl before him was- is a miracle.

Funny, how easily Five found himself using such a word when he had never before believed in such a thing. The old man he called _Dad_ would scoff at such a thing, calling it a fantasy dreamed up by delusional fools who had neither the capacity nor the fortitude to realize their own goals.

And for the most part, Five had agreed. If there was something he needed done, he was expected to bring it about himself. Not wait for other people or convenient series of events to hand it over to him. 

After all, Reginald Hargreeves founded the Umbrella Academy to save the world, to rid it of evil and keep it safe. The Academy was the world’s last line of defence, one that could be counted on to do its job when all else fails. 

Hence it would be unseemly to have the soldiers that make up his Academy be found to rely on higher powers, especially when said higher powers did not exist. So it was that Reginald Hargreeves taught his wards to rely only on themselves and each other. He also taught Five and his siblings to recognise no authority higher than his own.

Five heavily internalized the former. And as such, roundly rejected the latter. Because from a young age, Five knew that he only truly had to answer to himself. While he was young, he listened to Reginald Hargreeves only insofar as it benefited Five himself. If it didn’t, then Five simply had to be creative when it came to doing whatever he wanted. 

Besides, Five knew that time was on his side. If Five really wanted to, he had every confidence that he could seize everything from the Monocle. But there was no need to expend much energy when the old man’s demise was simply a matter of time.

For as long as Five could remember, he had been able to turn things around in his favour. Many things become possible when one can bend space and time to one’s will.

And yet, even with all his knowledge and his best efforts, he couldn’t stop Vanya’s many miscarriages. The old man said that Vanya’s body and abilities simply made it virtually impossible for her to carry a pregnancy to term. 

Naturally, Five had to go through seeing Vanya’s pale face and the pool of blood countless times to accept it. 

If it were up to him, he wouldn’t let Vanya endanger herself after the first time. But he could never deny her. And his ego would not let him give up so easily.

So, he had tried going back seconds, hours, days, and months. Tried to see what could be corrected, what could be done to save the children that inhabited Vanya’s womb at different points in time. But after each attempt and each pregnancy, it felt like he was simply frozen in place as he watched Vanya’s happiness (and in consequence, his own) crash into a million tiny pieces.

Vanya would be inconsolable afterwards.

But before long, she would want to try again. And it was beyond his abilities to tell her no. He told himself he would simply attempt something new. He would think of a better plan to ensure that Vanya’s happiness would finally be complete.

In the end, Five had to (reluctantly) concede that some things were simply out of his control. 

Such a thing had never come easily for Five.

However, Vanya’s most recent labour was particularly hard on her body. She had been delirious and bedridden for weeks that she didn’t even get to see her baby. Not until now, when Five told her he would get the child himself and place the baby in Vanya’s arms.

In a way, it was a blessing to be so instrumental to Vanya’s joy. 

_Blessing?_

Five had to laugh at himself. Here he was, a man of reason and logic for all his life. And yet in no time at all, Five had started incorporating terms that had no place in a classroom or a laboratory.

And yet, he couldn’t help but feel grateful to fate, the universe or some other higher power even though he still didn’t believe in such things. 

The miracle child had his eyes, tufts of dark hair covering a still mostly bald head. She had ten fingers and toes. And he had been assured she was born healthy, without defect. 

She fit snugly and securely in his arms, warm and soft and vulnerable. A tiny, little thing like he imagined Vanya had been as an infant.

So similar and yet so different from the babies before. He vividly remembered the last one, his and Vanya’s son, cradled in his arms as the tiny creature fought and failed to take another breath. 

No. This healthy, living little one would be different. He knew that for sure. 

While yes, there were so many things he had left to chance and circumstance, there were still things he...helped along and would help along, for a lack of a better term.

So it was that he left the hospital

_________________

As expected, Vanya’s face brightened as soon as he opened the door to their bedroom and presented her with their daughter. She had only recently regained the strength to sit up. But the look of wonder on her face as she stared down at the little one in her arms made everything in the past few months worth it.

Allison and Mom were in the room with her. Each feeling happy for Vanya. Though Five took special care to avoid looking Allison in the eyes.

“What should we call her, Five?”

“Well, since you carried her for nine months, why don’t you decide?”

There were tears forming around Vanya’s eyes, tears that Mom was quick to help her wipe away.

She didn’t think this day would come. During the past nine months of uncertainty, Vanya had been afraid that if she decided on a name, she would somehow jinx things.

_________________

Though Vanya was reluctant to part with the infant, she had to concede when fatigue warned her that she might drop her child.

Mom carried the baby to the new nursery, while Vanya rested in their shared bedroom.

Allison dragged him away as soon as they were out of Vanya’s range of hearing.

“Don’t bullshit me, Five. Where did you get that baby?”

After snatching his hand back, Five made his way to the living room bar and fixed himself a drink.

“The hospital. Where else?”

“Do I need to rumour you to get the truth out of you?” 

He sighed.

“Someone left a baby at a safe haven, which turned out to be a hospital. The baby turned out to be exactly what I needed. Caucasian. Dark hair. Green eyes, though the color might change but I don’t think Vanya would care. And a female. I mean, Vanya got a sonogram confirming the sex of our child. I couldn’t present her with a male baby.”

“Five, you can’t do this. You can’t lie to her like this.”

He expected that from Allison. He didn’t even feel particularly angry or defensive. He had rehearsed all the justifications during the months since finding out about Vanya’s latest pregnancy. 

There was no way he could risk Vanya getting another disappointment in the form of another dead baby. A probability that was far too high for Five’s tastes.

So he made contingency plans, developed contacts, paid and bribed the right people to ensure that he got himself a baby for Vanya should the worst inevitably happen.

Five had been through it enough times to expect otherwise. So he prepared accordingly. There were far too many unwanted babies in the world. The miracle was in finding one that resembled Vanya and himself enough and was born around the right time to fool Vanya. Therein were the factors he had to leave to chance. 

But it paid off. 

Sure, he might have to burn a whole hospital down to erase any evidence of the baby’s presence. But in the grand scheme of things, it was a small price to pay.


End file.
